Posts made in September 2022

BLACKPINK’S BORN PINK DEBUTS NO. 1 ON BILLBOARD

BLACKPINK’s ‘Born Pink’ Debuts No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart

Global superstars BLACKPINK unveil their long-awaited second full-length album BORN PINK via YG Entertainment / Interscope Records. Stream HERE. The album is accompanied by a cinematic video for new single “Shut Down.” Watch it HERE. On October 15, the girl group embarks on a world tour that touches down on four continents. BORN PINK is now available at all digital retailers.

BORN PINK was spearheaded by the record-shattering single “Pink Venom,” which topped the Billboard Global 200 and debuted at No.1 on Spotify’s Global Top Songs Chart, amassing 7.9M streams within the first 24 hours. The song’s official music video also conquered YouTube, amassing 90.4M views within the first 24 hours. That ranks as JISOO, JENNIE, ROSÉ, and LISA’s biggest debut to date, the biggest release by females (group or solo) of this decade, and the third biggest 24-hour debut of all time.

Next up, BLACKPINK will kick off their world tour, which is predicted to be attended by more than 1.5M people, at the KSPO DOME in Seoul Olympic Park on October 15. The group will then visit the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, among others, before landing in New Zealand on June 21, 2023. A full list of dates is linked HERE.

BORN PINK TRACKLIST:

1. Pink Venom

2. Shut Down

3. Typa Girl

4. Yeah Yeah Yeah

5. Hard to Love

6. The Happiest Girl

7. Tally

8. Ready for Love

ABOUT BLACKPINK:

One of the most massively successful K-pop groups in music history, BLACKPINK have redefined the global pop landscape since first bursting onto the scene in 2016. Along with boasting the #1 most-subscribed artist channel on YouTube, the South Korean quartet has achieved such boundary-defying milestones as scoring the highest-charting album by a female group in over a decade and becoming the first K-pop girl group ever to perform at Coachella (the largest music festival in the U.S.). Comprised of JISOO, JENNIE, ROSÉ and LISA—all immensely charismatic vocalists, dancers, and fast-rising fashion icons—BLACKPINK began their meteoric rise with their 2016 debut “SQUARE ONE” and further proved their crossover power with “SQUARE UP” (a 2018 release that quickly cracked the Billboard 200).

Soon after signing with Interscope Records through a global partnership with YG Entertainment, the group made their full-length debut with 2020’s immediately iconic THE ALBUM. THE ALBUM shot to #2 on the Billboard 200 and landed three singles on the Billboard Hot 100: “How You Like That” (the iconic single that shattered several YouTube records, including fastest video to cross 150 million views), “Ice Cream” (a collaboration with Selena Gomez that broke the record for highest-charting female K-pop group on the Hot 100), and “Lovesick Girls” (a track that’s sold over 1.4 million copies worldwide, making BLACKPINK the first K-pop girl group to sell over a million units). Through the years, BLACKPINK have also garnered a number of major awards (including an MTV Video Music Award for Song of the Summer as well as three E! People’s Choice Awards), collaborated with superstars like Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga, performed on “The Tonight Show,” and starred in BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky (a 2020 film hailed by the New York Times as an “endearing documentary that emphasizes each member’s individuality”). With over 6.3 billion career Spotify streams to date, BLACKPINK have unveiled their wildly anticipated sophomore album BORN PINK. In less than a month, the group will hit the road for their 2022/2023 world tour kicking off on October 15 in Seoul, South Korea.

BLACKPINK – ‘BORN PINK’ eAlbum

[Instagram | Twitter | YouTube]

YouTube Music

Photo: YG Entertainment

A Model’s Guide

Listen to Jarel ‘Jay’ Jordan chat with Vaughn Lowery on the 360 MAG Amazon / Spotify podcast HERE.

Jay Jordan, an emerging model, breaks back onto the scene with professionalism, pride and perseverance. After modeling during a NYFW SS23 presentation at Daylight Studio for Terry Singh, he has a zoom chat with Move Like Water × Be Fluid author Vaughn Lowery.

Even though Jordan just signed a deal with esteemed One Management, he understands he wants to prove his inner demons wrong. When he talks to Lowery, he begins to realize that he needs to keep doing things differently. They talk about self-care, punctuality, personal touch, spending time alone with your booker so you can stay in their minds.

Since the lockdown as a result of COVID-19, the industry has suffered greatly from models and agents who have lost their jobs. In fact, The Industry Model Management closed the doors of their Miami office during the two-year hiatus.

With spellbinding eyes, good bone structure in tandem with natural hair, Jordan could well be what the advertising and fashion sector needs to help rebuild their monarchy.

Special thanks to Nobis and New York Men’s Day (NYMD).

DANIELA URIBE × FLYING SOLO

Daniela Uribe, luxury Latin-owned footwear brand, known for its size-inclusive and genderless styles, celebrated its second NYFW show with Flying Solo. Founded by Colombian native designer, Daniela Uribe Lopez, the brand is deeply rooted in inclusivity and re-establishes the paradigms of beauty and comfort offering styles in extending sizing to fit every gender.

Flying Solo showcases new talented and independent designers from across the globe at the annual fashion exhibition. During Saturday’s show, a selection of conceptual and fashionably utilitarian looks graced the runway including Daniela Uribe’s luxury styles in conjunction with clothing and accessory brands 831 MINHLE, Ventura, Georgina Jewelry, AURELIA ICARUS, LISA CHARMEL, and Hiromi Asai.

Daniela Uribe’s Collection stems from years of curated artistry involving the eclectic rhythm of embracing individuality while celebrating unison. The luxurious designs cross the border between nostalgic comfort and bold inspiration and meld the world between fashion and function. The styles shown include the brand’s signature Be Yourself Pump features the sleek signature logo heel, Entwine Sandal, The Inclusiveness Bootie, Together We Can Sneaker, and The Love Yourself Pumps plated with gold hardware buckle and chain detailing. New iterations of the Love Yourself Pumps and Entwine Sandal, also graced the runway. The new styles from the upcoming collection and familiar crowd favorites shown at the Flying Solo NYFW Show will be available for purchase at Soho’s independent designer platform-brick-and-mortar, Flying Solo, and on the brand’s website.

Daniela Uribe x Flying Solo showcases at New York Fashion Week for 360 MAGAZINE

GUCCI HA HA HA

Friendship, complicity, a unification of distinct creativities that meet along a shared border, exchanges, and contaminations of collective ideas. And the construction of the absolute pragmatism of bridges that form to connect different perspectives.

Gucci HA HA HA is a collection that represents the landing place of an inventive two-person journey, the synthesis of a friendship between Gucci’s Creative Director, Alessandro Michele, and the British singer-songwriter and actor, Harry Styles.

Gucci HA HA HA is not only a printed motif on a label, but the beginning of a jargon that has yet to be categorized and that defines the intersection of creative expression and shared perceptions of two different consciences: this is why it is a collection born from a creative relationship that self-generates from amusement and ends with the tangibility of a product. HA HA HA is the serial crasis of the initials of ‘Harry’ and ‘Alessandro,’ but it is also the onomatopoeic sound of the written essence of an emoji, the ‘laughing face.’ In fact, it is with this neological expression, ‘hahaha,’ that Michele and Styles have ended their messages to each other for years; two friends who find themselves sharing trips, experiences, and even those suspensions in time that are shared spaces in silence. Their relationship is one of complicity that allows for continuous exchanges because it recovers the true moral meaning of friendship: a sincere revelation and dedication of oneself towards the other, without duplicity and displays of power.

Alessandro Michele and Harry Styles met each other many years ago, right at the beginning of their careers as soloists: Michele following his debut as Gucci’s Creative Director and Styles just as he released his first album. The encounter immediately generated a relationship of exchange, of continuous creative contamination, and the drive to explore.

“Harry has an incredible sense of fashion. Observing his ability to combine items of clothing in a way that is out of the ordinary compared to the required standards of taste and common sense and the homogenization of appearance, I came to understand that the styling of a look is a generator of differences and of powers, as are his reactions to the designs I have created for him, which he has always made his own; these reactions restore me with a rush of freedom every time. The idea of working together came to me one day while we were talking on the phone: I proposed creating a “dream wardrobe” with him, starting from those small oddities that come together in childlike visions. We ended up with a mix of aesthetics from 1970s pop and bohemian to the revision of the image of the gentleman in an overturned memory of men’s tailoring,” says Alessandro Michele of an endeavor that connects two “I’s” to obtain an absolute “us” in which each resulting element is a plural creation that highlights the contamination of ideas and produces a singular organism.

Gucci HA HA HA is a playful collection designed to act as a herald of new visions of beauty, crafted with liberating codes that eliminate the ritual complexities of fashion collections and produce the sustainable spontaneity of ease, just as nature is easy even when it expresses itself with the vision of complexity. Jackets, coats, pants, shirts, and accessories that manifest a novel emotive passage able to construct a study on a surprising take on masculine elegance with clothes that declare their love both to the materials with which they are made and to the historical significance of their forms, volumes, and of the images they produce.

A dialog, a game, the complicit expression of a friendship that was formed from a planning that collects encounters, stories, similarities, and differences, to produce liberating codes.

Gucci HA HA HA therefore is an imaginative connection between Alessandro Michele and Harry Styles and gathers within a collection many elements that characterize the creative paths and peculiarities of the two artists, bringing them together in the synthesis of Gucci. Elements of English tailoring transformed in romantic accents from a new meaning of masculinity through the eccentric use of Prince of Wales check to create double-breasted coats, the essential preeminence of artisanal processes seen in the construction of jackets or in the details of covered and mother-of-pearl buttons of shirts. An artistic imagination that comes from creative instances that apply themselves to diverse expressions contaminate each other and become clothes that highlight formal developments of the historical significance of menswear: this is why alongside sartorial suits, treated denim jackets, and velvet suits in irregular hues, are unexpected printed pajamas and bowling shirts, lined coats with hoods and frog fasteners, and pleated kilts with leather regulating straps. All to underline the continuous acknowledgements of two creativities in each design that comprises the Gucci HA HA HA collection.

Gucci

Founded in Florence, Italy, in 1921, Gucci is one of the world’s leading luxury brands, led by President and CEO Marco Bizzarri and Creative Director Alessandro Michele. Following the House’s centenary, Gucci forges ahead into the next hundred years, continuing to redefine luxury while celebrating the creativity, Italian craftsmanship, and innovation at the core of its values.

Gucci is part of the global luxury group Kering, which manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in fashion, leather goods, jewelry and watches.

Discover more about Gucci at www.gucci.com.

Four Smoking Alternatives That Are Better Than Vaping

For people who want to switch to smoking alternatives, vaping is usually their first choice because it is seen as a better option. However, our article on Vaping and Smoking reveals that this is not the case. A vaping device heats a liquid substance that makes it possible for inhalable vapors to form. While this contains different chemicals from the substances in cigarettes, it’s not necessarily better. This is because of the chemical called diacetyl in the liquid, which causes a common lung disease called ‘popcorn lung’ that blocks airflow. Studies have also concluded that other chemicals in the vapor are linked to the development of lung tumors.

Given these, it’s best to move away from vaping as a smoking alternative. Instead, try these better alternatives:

Pouches

Nicotine pouches are small pouches containing a small amount of nicotine. They’re made to be put in the mouth, specifically between the lip and the gums, and spit out after use. The nicotine is then absorbed orally into the bloodstream. Because of this, they don’t involve the inhalation of vapors. Pouches are also very discreet, adding to their convenience. Another thing you will like about them is they come in different strengths and flavors. The bestsellers sold on Prilla often come in classic flavors like mint and citrus, and fun ones like mango and berries. In terms of strength levels, more milligrams means more nicotine. Usually, it ranges from 3mg to 8mg. Nicotine pouches are better alternatives because they’re discreet and offer various flavors.

Nasal spray

A nasal spray gives you a dose of nicotine through the nostrils. The formula is not inhaled but rather absorbed through the nose. This alternative is best for those who want an instant dose of nicotine throughout the day. The Nicotrol nasal spray can be used for up to 8 weeks. However, if you’re prone to colds and a runny nose, this won’t be a suitable option for you. Because it works by spraying more liquid into your nasal passages, it may only serve to further irritate your nose in these cases.

Lozenges

Nicotine lozenges are tablets containing a dose of nicotine. They are to stay in your mouth, between the gum and the cheek. Nicotine is absorbed through the mouth and into the bloodstream. Do not bite, chew, or swallow them as these do nothing for nicotine absorption. Instead, allow them to dissolve, and they’ll be gone in 20-30 minutes. Because they’re oral products, lozenges typically come in flavors. Reynolds nicotine lozenges come in mint, dark mint, crema, and berry. They’re also available in soft and hard forms for your preference. Lozenges are perfect smoking alternatives if you want to feel like you’re having candy.

Patches

Nicotine patches are placed on the body—normally, the upper arm, shoulder, or back—allowing the skin to absorb nicotine. They can be worn for up to 24 hours and their dosages range from 7mg to 21mg. Because they’re patches, they are very subtle and can be hidden under your clothes. The NicoDerm CQ is the best patch because it supplies a steady flow of nicotine as the day progresses. This way, you’ll get equal amounts of nicotine at all times of the day. Patches are great if you don’t want to take oral or nasal alternatives, and you aim for day-long nicotine consumption.

Vaping is as harmful as smoking. With alternatives like lozenges, patches, nasal sprays, and lozenges, it’s easier to quit smoking and improve your health.

Protected: MUSEUM OF ART AND DESIGN

What is brand identity and why is important?

What is brand identity? It might seem like a simple question, but it’s actually quite complex. Brand identity is the totality of how your customers perceive your company. It comprises everything from the name and logo to the customer service experience and the way you communicate with everyone on social media. In this article, we will discuss why brand identity is so important and how you can create a strong, unshakeable brand identity for your business.

How Your Brand Identity Can Set You Apart

In a world where there are thousands of businesses all selling similar products or services, it can be hard to stand out. Your brand identity will make you unique and memorable in the minds of your customers. You will attract new customers and keep existing ones coming back for more.

Creating a strong brand identity starts with having a clear understanding of who your target audience is and what they are looking for. Once you know this, you can start to create visuals and messaging that will resonate with them. It’s also important to be consistent with your branding across all channels, from your website to your social media accounts. This will help people quickly recognize your company and what it stands for.

Why Brand Identity Matters

Your brand identity is important because it can help you build trust and credibility with your customers. Customers are likely to do business with companies that they feel good about and can easily identify. An awesome brand identity can also help you charge more for your products or services, as customers are often willing to pay a premium for brands they trust and admire. Investing in a professional branding agency or designer is one of the best ways to ensure that your brand identity is on point.

How To Build Your Brand Identity

There are a few key things to keep in mind when building your brand identity. First, you need to make sure that your branding is consistent across all channels. This means using the same colors, fonts, and overall aesthetic in everything from your website to your social media posts. Second, you need to be clear about who your target audience is and what they are looking for. Once you know this, you can create messaging and visuals that will resonate with them. Finally, always be consistent with your branding. Consistency will help people quickly recognize and remember your company.

Take your brand name, for example. It seems simple enough, but there needs to be a lot of thought that goes into it. The name you choose should be reflective of your company’s values and what you want people to think of when they hear it. It should also be available as a .com, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and anywhere else you want to have a presence. One may ask, “what’s in a name?” and the answer is “everything.” If you can’t figure one out, there are many helpful name generators that can help you find the perfect name for whatever you’re trying to convey.

This level of thought needs to be given to every element of your brand identity, from your logo to your website design to the way you talk about your company on social media.

If you’re not sure where to start with creating or improving your brand identity, we suggest working with a professional branding agency or designer. They will be able to help you create visuals and messaging that reflect your company’s values and what you want people to think of when they hear your name. Investing in strong brand identity is one of the best ways to ensure that your business is successful.

Conclusion

A strong brand identity is essential for any business that wants to be successful. It can help you attract new customers, build trust and credibility, and charge premium prices for your products or services. Build your brand correctly, and you will be on your way to a successful future.

AGT SEASON 17 FINALE

MAYYAS CROWNED WINNER OF NBC’S ‘AMERICA’S GOT TALENT’ SEASON 17

Lebanese All-Female Dance Group Wins $1 Million Grand Prize and Will Join “America’s Got Talent Las Vegas LIVE” Stage Show at Luxor Hotel and Casino

“AGT” Continues as Summer’s #1 Program for the 17th Consecutive Year and Surpassed a Billion Video Views Across All of Its Social Accounts

The votes are in and America has chosen the show-stopping Lebanese dance group Mayyas as the winner of “America’s Got Talent” season 17. The Mayyas win the show’s $1 million grand prize and will join “America’s Got Talent Las Vegas LIVE” stage show at Luxor Hotel and Casino. The group’s specific performance dates in Las Vegas, as well as the other season 17 fan favorites that will be joining, will be announced soon.

The Mayyas won America’s hearts and votes through their powerful, hypnotizing and synchronous choreography. Their inspiring first audition garnered the instant attention of Sofia Vergara, who granted them her Golden Buzzer, and has now received nearly 17 million views on YouTube.

Throughout the competition, the group continued to raise the bar and receive high praises from the judges with their stunning performances. Executive producer Simon Cowell called their final performance “astonishing, global and huge.” Howie Mandel exclaimed it was “his favorite act ever on ‘AGT.’” Heidi Klum said, “This is what a million-dollar act looks like.”

“From the moment I first saw the Mayyas, their act was spectacular and gave me goosebumps,” said Sofia Vergara. “Their coordinated choreography was the most beautiful, creative dancing I have ever seen. Each time they competed, they continued to outdo themselves. Their empowering performances have earned them the ultimate title and I’m so proud of them and can’t wait to see what they do next.”

The Mayyas is an all-female alternative dance crew, founded by choreographer Nadim Cherfan, consisting of 36 Lebanese women of different ages. Their main message is female empowerment. The name of their group stems from an Arabic word, meaning the proud walk of a lioness. Building a career in Lebanon has been difficult, especially for female dancers, so it was important for the group to compete on the biggest stage on “AGT” and show the world what Arab women can do.

Season 17 of “America’s Got Talent” concluded tonight with an unforgettable finale at the Pasadena Civic Center with judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum and host Terry Crews. The show’s finale featured the top 11 finalists performing alongside memorable guests, including the Black Eyed Peas, country music artists Darius Rucker and Jon Pardi, musician Trombone Shorty, as well as “America’s Got Talent” previous winners Terry Fator, Darci Lynne and Shin Lim. Emmy Award-winning actor and director Henry Winkler and comedian Jeff Ross also appeared.

“America’s Got Talent” is the most-watched summer program for the ninth consecutive year and is the most-watched summer broadcast unscripted program for the 17th consecutive year. The season has reached 57.6 million total viewers across linear and digital platforms, and has surpassed over a billion viewers across its social accounts.

The “Got Talent” format has had more than a billion global viewers since it began airing in 2006 in America and has aired in 194 territories worldwide. “Got Talent” holds the Guinness World Records title as the Most Successful Reality Television Format, with more than 70 local versions produced across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.

“America’s Got Talent Las Vegas LIVE” opened last year and runs Wednesday-Sunday at 6 and 8:30 p.m. inside Luxor Theater. Tickets start at $49, plus tax and applicable fees, are on sale now and can be purchased at mgmresorts.com, luxor.com and AGTVegasLive.com or by visiting any MGM Resorts International box office.

For more information, please visit the official show site at: http://www.nbc.com/agt and the official press website at https://www.nbcumv.com.

Follow “America’s Got Talent” on social media:

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AGT

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/AGT

· YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AmericasGotTalent

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agt/

· TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@agt

· Hashtag: #AGT

Auditions for the next season of “America’s Got Talent” are currently underway. Interested acts can visit www.AGTAuditions.com to register for an upcoming audition city or to submit a video online.

“America’s Got Talent” was created by Simon Cowell and is co-produced by Fremantle and Syco Entertainment. Cowell, Sam Donnelly and Jason Raff are the executive producers.

Photo: Trae Patton/NBC

Seun Kuti × Egypt 80

Renowned Afrobeat Artist Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 Continues International “Love & Revolution” Tour This Fall with Performances Across Europe and the US

Kuti family scion Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 have been relentlessly touring the globe for the first time in years, with an ongoing US, UK, and European tour that has hit stops at major festivals like Glastonbury. The tour is currently booked through October 1 in the US, at the tenth annual Desert Daze in Moreno Valley, California, and through November 7 in Europe, at Villanos del Jazz in Madrid, Spain. Along the way, they have been performing classic anthems from their catalogue alongside new material from their upcoming album, like singles “Love and Revolution” and “Emi Aluta.” These two tracks were recorded live at Clout Studio, the legendary premises of Cool FM 96.9 on Victoria Island in Lagos and are out now.

The new Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 record will also include hip-hop versions of some songs from their 2018 Grammy®-nominated album Black Times, in collaboration with Black Thought, co-founder/MC of Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show house band The Roots. The lead single “Kuku Kee Me (Remix)” is an official soundtrack selection for FIFA 23 and will be available for purchase and streaming on September 23 (the animated music video will be released September 22). The track perfectly marries the two artists’ unique but global perspectives, combing funky beats and blistering verses to share the message of “people power” in the world today. They last worked with Black Thought on Common’s single “When We Move,” which debuted worldwide for UN World Oceans Day before a performance on The Tonight Show, with footage of Seun at The New Afrika Shrine in Lagos intercut with Common, Black Thought, and The Roots live on-stage in New York.

The youngest son of visionary Fela Kuti, Seun has continued the family tradition of fusing music and politics into something transcendent. He started opening for his dad at age nine, joined Egypt 80 before he was twelve, and assumed leadership of the band following his father’s passing in 1997. Seun performs his father’s seminal compositions with his own twists, digging deep into African tradition and culture. Like his parents and grandparents, Seun is a revolutionary activist on the frontlines who has been named Pro-Tem Chairman of Movement of the People, the political party launched by his father. With his weekly radio show, his mythical gigs, and a righteous social media presence, Seun is a towering figure in Nigeria and revered worldwide. His mission is vast: “Inspire Africa to be what it is supposed to be.”

In 2011, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s live record From Africa with Fury: Rise, co-produced by Brian Eno and John Reynolds, landed on both Billboard and digital international charts. The album was their first Knitting Factory Records before joining Knitting Factory Management in 2021. Still retaining members of the group that played, protested, and were arrested with his father, they have a reputation for playing multi-hour shows heavy on group improvisation. “My band Egypt 80 and I hope, as always, that our music will help make the world a more generous, kinder and more livable place,” Seun concludes, “not only to fans but to its underrepresented people.”

Pre-save “Kuku Kee Me (Remix)” here and keep up with Seun on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, & YouTube!

Date

Venue

Location

9/16

City Winery

Washington, DC

9/20

Subterranean

Chicago, IL

9/21

The Dakota

Minneapolis, MN

9/23

The Big Top

St. Louis, MO

9/24

Format Festival

Bentonville, AR

9/27

Fox Theatre

Boulder, CO

9/28

Washington’s

Fort Collins, CO

10/1

Desert Daze

Moreno Valley, CA

10/4

Fiestas de San Froilan

Lugo, Spain

10/10

La Philharmonie de Paris

Paris, France

10/12

La Laiterie

Strasbourg, France

10/13

La Bouef sur le Toit

Lons-Le-Saunier, France

10/14

L’Usine

Istres, France

10/16

Le Rocher de Palmer

Bordeaux, France

10/18

Le Splendid

Lille, France

10/25

Viper Theatre

Florence, Italy

10/26

MONK Club

Rome, Italy

10/29

Guinness Cork Jazz Festival

Cork, Ireland

10/29

Guinness Cork Jazz Festival

Cork, Ireland

11/1

De Effenaar (Small Hall)

Eindhoven, Netherlands

11/2

LantarenVenster

Rotterdam, Netherlands

11/5

Cartagena Jazz Festival

Cartagena, Spain

11/7

Villanos del Jazz

Madrid, Spain

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 Tour Dates announced via 360 MAGAZINE — Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 tour dates in US and UK announced via 360 MAGAZINE

Why Tech Workers Are Leaving To Fight Climate Change

With the climate crisis rapidly worsening, many tech workers are recognizing they aren’t making any significant impact to better the world in their current roles, prompting them to leave the traditional tech sector to work for companies fighting the climate crisis. The tech industry is notorious for having one of the most lucrative job pools for its workers, though the majority of those jobs aren’t particularly glamorous, purpose-driven, fulfilling, or legacy-creating roles. In fact, some of the most common tech jobs consist of designing, engineering, and developing software such as mobile apps or operating systems, or assessing, analyzing, and evaluating data to help companies make better-informed decisions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us several times over that people expect the businesses they work for (and buy from) to take a stance for things that matter to them. And while tech experts may not know much about public policy, legislation, or environmental science, they do know a lot about data.

“It’s a data problem that we’re solving,” said Persefoni co-founder Kentaro Kawamori when approaching his business partner, James Newsome, about starting a SaaS to fight climate change, as reported by CNBC. A lot of tech workers in similar positions are feeling uncertainty regarding how to best make this career shift due to a lack of knowledge or experience around climate change. But their contribution to this work is not to be concerned with the science of climate change; it’s about managing and leveraging the data needed to navigate climate change.

Making The Shift

Dr. Soudip Roy Chowdhury, the CEO of Eugenie.ai, has witnessed this shift, as well, as more tech workers have looked to join companies with a mission that makes a positive impact on climate change. Dr. Chowdhury hired Narayanan Subramaniam as his CTO because of Narayanan’s dedication to living sustainably over the past 30 years, and because of how he could use his cloud-based technology expertise to impact climate change.

Dr. Chowdhury cautions tech workers on their career move to the climate change industry. “While the industry needs more workers, you do need to be passionate about climate change and technology in order for it to be satisfying work,” he says. In fact, some tech workers have taken serious pay cuts from huge six-figure salaries to average $60,000 salaries. He also advises to look at what type of technology one wishes to be part of developing.

Climate tech, as a niche industry, has skyrocketed due to several recent changes. From 2020 to 2021, climate tech has seen an 80% increase in investment. The industry’s worth is now estimated at $56 billion, with energy and power companies having seen the most significant growth. When other industries climate tech touches are brought in — for example, transportation, agriculture, food, or logistics — the investment in climate technology increases to over $114 billion, with two-thirds of investments going into mobility and transportation.

Finding The Big Impact

Overall, there is no shortage of job opportunities in climate technology, and while a lot of workers seemed to have taken significant pay cuts, investments into the industry have boomed. The most important thing to know when considering a shift to climate tech, however, is whether or not one is truly passionate about the work involved in mitigating the global impact of climate change. Without that passion, as Dr. Chowdhury mentions, the work may not be enjoyable.

When it comes to companies making the most impact, the biggest thing Dr. Chowdhury says that needs to be considered is scalability. A wide variety of climate tech companies are working to analyze climate change and understand how it needs to be addressed, but the tech industry isn’t the only industry that’s been affected by climate change. “As a technologist, we need to start thinking about scale and how our technology can not only address specific problems for a few industries, but across all industries,” says Dr. Chowdhury.

This is where using the notion of digitization will come into play. Dr. Chowdhury sees digitization and the innovative products it creates — such as the metaverse — as a prime opportunity for climate change and tech experts to collaborate and test out new, emerging technologies. With the metaverse, new technology being developed can be evaluated and tested to see the level of impact it will have in fighting climate change. And according to Dr. Chowdhury, Eugenie.ai is already accomplishing this.

“We are working on providing digital twin technology, where we help companies create a digital version of their processes and machines. This, of course, will help them to see how they can improve their output, but also how to follow certain process prescriptions,” says Dr. Chowdhury. These prescriptions are determined using simulations of data with a company’s past knowledge, combined with Eugenie.ai’s own research, as a blueprint. By following the prescription, companies can improve their sustainability KPIs, while maintaining operational throughput.

Dr. Chowdhury shares that his company is already partnering with some companies to test out this digital twin approach in the metaverse. “We have tested our digital twin today by applying it to some oil and gas mining companies. We’re helping them to reduce their production wastage by 2025 by focusing on fugitive emissions. The goal is to reduce their emissions close to 7-8% on a annual basis.”

A Glimpse Into Sustainable Business

Companies will now be able to more accurately estimate how their technologies will impact climate change upon launch. In turn, companies like Eugenie.ai can develop prescriptions that will rapidly accelerate the developmental stages industries will have to undergo when adopting new climate and sustainability technologies. With opportunities to develop life-changing climate technology becoming more available and in dire need, it’s no wonder that an increasing number of tech workers are looking to change careers and find more meaningful ways to utilize their expertise.

While many data scientists and software engineers are working at great companies at Google, Amazon, and other tech giants, not many of them can say they’re working on technology that will help to drastically shift the way other industries function. This isn’t to say that their jobs aren’t important; tech giants like Google and Amazon need to understand that tech is not entirely about understanding and optimizing consumerism.

In fact, consumers are more likely to support sustainability efforts as long as they understand the methods and meaning behind them. However, it’s going to take more workers to leave their big salaries at Google to help the rest of us understand the data necessary to recognize the severity of our climate crisis.